As part of its mission, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Community Health Centers (MACHC) engages in advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels on behalf of its members and promotes public policy that expands access to health care services and improves health care outcomes for vulnerable populations and underserved communities. The Association's advocacy program is designed to communicate the needs of Community Health Centers to state and federal elected and appointed officials in concert with other health care providers. As the “Voice of Communities in Need" throughout the state of Maryland and Delaware, MACHC partner's with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and key strategic partners to advocate on behalf of its members, to further support Federal and State legislation that increases healthcare access to the underserved. Services provided through the Advocacy program include working with lawmakers at the State Capitol, meeting with Members of Congress in Washington, D. C., and providing critical information to opinion leaders in the media and policy makers to support expanding access to primary care services.

Advocacy Updates and Information

Thursday, February 25, 2010
Congressional Hill Visits with MACHC

MACHC is scheduling visits to Capital Hill for Thursday, February 25, 2010 during the NACHC Policy and Issues Forum. If you are a MACHC member and would like to plan a visit with your elected representatives to Congress, please contact Deitra Bell at deitra.bell@machc.com or 301-577-0097 ext 123.

White House FY2010 Budget Highlights
According to a recent press release from the Department of Health and Human Services, the President’s budget helps build the foundation for health insurance reform. The budget strengthens the health care system and improves access to care by investing $995 million to address the shortage of health care providers in underserved areas, increasing funding to expand services at Health Centers by $290 million and allocating nearly $80 million for work to spread the adoption and use of health information technology.  Overall, HHS's budget will increase under the President's Budget, with the following specific items benefitting community health centers and underserved communities:

• An additional $33 million for Health Professional Workforce Shortage programs;
• $290 million for the expansion of community health center services, including 25 new access points, and behavioral health integration;
• An additional $17 in Health Information Technology;
• $20 billion over 10 years for the CMS EHR Meaningful Use Incentive Program; and
• The Budget includes $25.5 billion to support State Medicaid programs by temporarily increasing Federal Medicaid funding for six months through June 2011.

Click here to view the President's Budget for Fiscal year 2011.

Click here to view the Press Release regarding the President's Budget and the DHHS. 

Health Reform Debate
As of December 24, 2009 both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed their versions of the Health Reform legislation.  Click on the links below to view the Congressional Records and legislative summaries, full text and motions, on THOMAS.

H.R.3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act (House)

H.R.3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Amendment in Senate)  (Senate)

Links to Resources

Kaiser Family Foundation website on Health Reform offers in-depth analysis and comparison of the various legislation.  Click here to view the Kaiser Health Reform website.

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has provided a side-by-side comparison of both pieces on legislation. This chart summarizes provisions most pertinent to community behavioral health providers, including general insurance market reforms, expansion of Medicaid eligibility, and workforce and other provisions that are specifically targeted to the mental health and addiction fields; however much of the summary is applicable across community health.  Click here to view the side-be-side chart by the National Council. 

How to get involved in the Health Reform Debate
Several of the bills that have been introduced in Congress on Health Reform include significant gains for Federally Qualified Health Centers (Affordable Health Choices Act calls for nearly a 200% increase in FQHC funding by 2015, among other items).  If you want to show your support for Health Reform legislation that supports the good work already being done by our community health centers consider writing an Op-Ed or a Letter to the Editor on the topic. The National Association of Community Health Centers has developed two easy to use templates for this purpose.  Click here to access the Letter to the Editor or Opinion-Editorial (word documents).   These documents can easily be amended to represent your local community health center. 

For more information on the associations current and future legislative initiatives please contact Duane Taylor at duane.taylor@machc.com or call 301-577-0097.

Page last updated February 3, 2010. M. Noyes